Mending Hearts
by angiesvoice
Summary: Post Emma's return to Storybrooke from FTL. Pain. Angst. Swan Queen.


**Hello All,**

**As I am probably not the only one upset about the winter finale, I've decided to write a little one shot where our Evil Queen is granted the happiness the Once writers don't seem to want to give her. Please read and review. Upon request, I may continue with this story. But, only if you ask nicely. As of now, this story is complete. Read and enjoy.**

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Not many people were aware of Emma's talent. Sure, she was an amazing sheriff and could spot a liar from 100 miles away, but this was different. Few people were granted the opportunity to hear the beautiful melodies that escaped the blonde's lips. Her voice was smooth like velvet, powerful and enticing in nature. When she sang, the world around you stopped. Your heart beat in tuned and your soul soared to a plane of existence further away than Heaven itself.

"_**If I could... could forget her  
I would... please believe me  
And I know that I should throw the towel in  
But baby it's not... not that easy**_"

Regina knew better than to interrupt her lover when she was in one of her _moods_. Emma only sang when she was in pain. The brunette was distraught to say the least when she arrived home one afternoon to find the blonde in their room, the speakers to the stereo turned as high as possible. Henry was nowhere to be found, the young boy clearly smart enough to make himself scarce.

It would be unproductive to disturb Emma. She was deep in the sound, her soul pouring out into the lyrics. Each word came from a hidden cavity of her damaged heart. Regina ached to embrace her love, to make the pain go away at any cost, but Emma needed to work this out on her own. She would come to Regina when she was ready, but the older woman couldn't help but be mesmerized by the blonde.

"_**You treat me so much better than her  
And if I was sane there'd be no competition  
But... but I'm in love with someone else  
And I'm so sorry  
I'm in love with another woman  
And I know it ain't right**_"

With a vocal performance came un-choreographed, amateur dance moves, serving only to release the stress that Emma was feeling. Her hands clawed at her own chest, desperately wanting o remove and exterminate the source of her unbearable pain.

_ It was several weeks after her and Mary Margret's return to their realm. Tensions in Storybrooke were still very high. With the loss of the remainder of fairy dust, hope of returning home dwindled. Without magic, nothing was to be accomplished. The townspeople were forced to come to terms with the fact that they would have to live in this realm with electricity, indoor plumbing, and advanced medicine. She saw the longing in her mother's eyes when she searched for new ways to return __**home**__, but Emma had no desire to return to Fairytale Land. The undeveloped and backwards world was not her home. The few weeks she was in the Land were the worst of her life. She was never one for extravagant things, but a girl needed her hot showers and hair products._

_ Fairytale Land wasn't Henry's home either. Her young son did not understand that his book over exaggerated that world. She did not want to scar him, but she wasn't about to expose him to giants, ogres, dragons, and the like. As this mother, it was he job to protect him._

_ Well, one of his mothers. For weeks, she'd avoided Regina like the Black Plague. The pain in the dark haired woman's eyes was burned in her eyelids. She didn't want to imagine the hell that Charming and Henry put her through in her own absence. She already scolded her son for this misbehavior. She heard about the stealing of Regina's keys and her heart broke at the thought of the ex-mayor risking her life to have lunch with her __**son**_**. **_Regina raised Henry to be better than that; Emma knew that. She was proud of the boy who she called her son, but her disgust and disappointment were clear. After hearing the suffering that Regina forced upon herself to stop the portal from killing her and Snow, she made Henry go to Regina's house and apologize. Emma stayed in the her yellow Bug, not wanting to disturb the warming moment between mother and son. From the distance, she saw salty tears streak olive tone skin._

_ When Henry returned to the car, they drove off without another word, headed to Granny's for a hot chocolate. She wasn't sure if Henry was sincere in his apology, but hearing him apologize would bring some happiness to Regina's heart. Granted, she had done some pretty bad things in her life, the ex-Evil Queen still deserved a happy ending, right? Everyone did bad things, but why did Fate punish Regina more than everyone else? That was a question that no one could answer for Emma._

_**You should go and find someone else  
Who can treat you right  
Give you the world  
Someone who understands the woman you are  
Cause baby you shine so bright  
And I would just dim your star**_

_Relationships were beyond complicated. Knowing that her mother had a one night stand with Dr. Frankenstein was too much for Emma. Snow knowing about some of the intimate details of her life was also overwhelming. Mother and daughter both chose to ignore their past friendship and set down the foundation for the parent-child relationship they could not have. Snow told her daughter about her history with Regina. Much of it came out in their time away, but there were still some missing pieces. Various members of the community were more than happy to paint a darker picture of her son's other mother, from Granny to Charming to Whale to Red._

_ Red._

_ Emma had no idea what to do about the young werewolf. The shape shifter that she saw now was a complete parallel to the woman that decorated Emma's bed long before the curse broke. Red was still an amazing person, but she wasn't the same. Emma wasn't the same. So many things had changed. She had grown to love Ruby and probably could learn to love Ruby, but she knew that she would never. She did not want to hurt Red/Ruby anymore, so when the other woman called and invited her over for dinner, she knew that she would have to end their __**relationship. **_

_ Time seemed to slow when Emma arrived to Ruby's home with a single white tulip. The wolf was well versed in the delicate meaning of the various flowers that existed in this world. A deep frown formed on her red lips as she watched Emma with a cautious eye. _

_ "I'm sorry," The blonde forced herself to speak the words before she lost the nerve. With a fury that was pure Ruby, the dark haired woman snatched the flower from her hand and stomped it under her high heeled boot, slamming the door on Emma's sorrowful face._

"_**A girl who'll treat you like you treat them  
Girl I know there's plenty women  
Who would love to have a woman like you  
But I'm in love with someone else...  
I'm so sorry baby  
I know I ain't right... no no no no no no  
For what I did to you baby**_"

_She did not know what possessed her to drive to the other side of the town and into the Evil Queen's arms, but it felt right. As harsh sobs wrecked her exhausted body, Regina's strong arms wrapped around her body like a protective blanket. Emma knew not what would come of this intimate moment, but the future could kiss her ass at the moment. The feeling of the dark haired woman's body against her own was sweeter than a candy cane and she was determined to relish in the feeling, underlying fears of rejection surfacing._

_That was three months ago._

_Things developed and their relationship began a beautiful metamorphosis the night they made love for the first time. Under her hard shell, the mayor was tender and compassionate. Emma knew from seeing the other woman interact with Henry, but this was different. They came as one, cries of passion falling from the bruised, swollen lips. In the room, bright lights swirled around their sex exhausted bodies as they drifted from their highs._

"_What was that?" Emma asked, her eyes filled with confusion. Regina smiled knowingly at her lover, leaning in to press a simple kiss to the blonde's lips._

"_That, my dear, was magic."_

"_Magic? How?"_

"_Love is the most powerful of weapons."_

"_Love? You love me?" She squawked in a panic. Fear flashed in Regina's eyes and she began to move away, rejection imminent in her mind. Emma grabbed her wrists and pulled her close. For a moment, there was a struggle before she huffed and stopped. "It's good that you love me. Because, I love you too."_

"_You do?" Regina gasped, as if the sheriff's words were a bucket of ice, cold water being poured on her body. The words seemed implausible. It seemed, in her life, that she was meant to love, but never loved; her mother, Daniel, Henry. Maybe, she was loved, but never in the way she deserved. Everything she ever loved was ripped from her hands. Her mother's love was twisted and resulted in the loss of her first love. Her son would never love her as much as he loved his birth mother. Raising him for 10 years meant nothing to his young mine where black and white existed alone. She learned, in this world, that life was filled with never ending shades of gray. There was no good or evil. There were people who did bad things. Society picks and chooses who to accept and to shun. Unfortunately, she was chosen to fail and suffer. Was Emma her second chance at love? Could the daughter of her greatest enemy, a product of true love, be her true love? Was Emma her savior?_

_Maybe that was the purpose of the prophecy all along. The seers foresaw a white knight, the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White, being the greatest power of all, enough to defeat the Evil Queen. But, defeat didn't mean kill. Was she meant to conquer and break down the walls founded and built by years of parental abuse and betrayal?_

_**I can't explain why it's her and not you  
But at the end of the day baby I just don't want to  
Cause she ain't no doctor  
And we always seem to fight, she got the perfect body  
And sometimes she don't even treat me right**_

" '_Gina?" The White Knight's soft voice asked, pulling her from the deep cavern of her own thoughts. Concern was written over face. She took the queen's hands in her own and squeezed tight. "You don't have to say it back. I under-"_

"_No."_

"_No? No, what?"_

"_I'm going to say it back." Regina took a deep breath and a radiant smile crawled up her lips. She leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to Emma's waiting lips. "I love you, Emma Swan, with everything that I am."_

"_You do?" The blonde whispered, a similar smile dancing across her lips._

"_Do I hear an echo?" Emma raised her eyebrows and tightened her lips._

"_Did you have to go and be a smart ass?"_

"_You wouldn't have me any other way."_

"_No, I wouldn't." Emma cooed as she smirked wickedly. "But, I do know which way I want to have you know." She rolled her love onto her back with a thud and peppered soft kisses down her toned body._

"_**When I'm with her, ain't nobody else like it  
I'm so sorry baby that I have to do this to you  
But I can't go on pretending...  
Cause I love her, I love her**_"

Coming out proved to be a difficultly for the new couple. Regina would never forget the anger and betrayal in Snow's eyes as Emma confessed her love for the woman that took everyone's happiness. Mother and daughter did not speak for quite some time. They went without each other for twenty-eight years, what would another two months do?

For the two months that they did not speak directly to each other, Emma moved in with Regina, the dark haired woman's home becoming _their_ home. While Regina enjoyed her organized lifestyle, the minor possessions that Emma carried with her in a cardboard box on evening added life to her stoic home. With her son back, she felt alive again. She wasn't mayor anymore, but who needs power when you can have happiness. Gradually, Henry began to see that she wasn't the Evil Queen anymore. She really never was. She was a creation of bad circumstances. On her own, Regina would have never become the witch that would curse an entire land to a world without magic or happiness.

_"I love her!"_

Not everyone understood their love. A few were still angry about the curse, but many grew to realize that they were better off in this land. There were the occasional glares and sneers, but everyone did their best to leave the couple be. Except for one.

Red.

It seemed that the young wolf could not handle rejection. She took to constantly pestering Emma, starting arguments that left the blonde broken and confused. It was clear that she intended to take Fate into her own hands. She couldn't and wouldn't understand that Emma and Regina didn't choose to be each others true loves. They were fated to be together. Emma was Regina's savior. The concept was simple; even Henry understood after a while. But, Ruby was determined to break them up.

_"She'll never love you."_

_ "She's Evil."_

_ "It's all a game to her."_

_ "She already had a true love."_

Each effort was wasted. When Emma found herself in tears, Regina was always there to glue the pieces back together with a Crazy Glue that only she had. The word of a lover, someone who loves you unconditionally, was a source of strength for anyone. To Emma, it was the force that pushed her to wake up each morning and brought a smile to her down turned lips.

_"She will leave you."_

For a long time, Emma believed that to be true. It wasn't possible for someone to love her. Her life in the system and her experience with Henry's father taught her that. Everyone in her life abandoned her. Even her parents left her, though not of their own volition. When she gave Henry up for adoption, she regretted her decision for 10 very long years. She took comfort hoping that her son had found his way to a loving, compassionate family, unlike the ones she lived in for brief periods of time. Lucky for him, he found the best home possible.

"_**And I'm so sorry... do you hear me?  
I'm so sorry but I love that woman  
I love that woman...  
She ain't always right, but he's just right for me  
I'm in love with another woman... and I'm so sorry...  
But I love someone else...**_"

As the song faded out and into a new track, Emma slowly turned to face her lover. It was no surprise that she knew Regina was there. When it came to the dark haired woman, the sheriff had 'Regina-Senses.' There was an emotional and physical tug toward the woman who she lay with each night. She wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks and walked to Regina.

"'Gina?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For loving me." Without another word, Emma pulled her close for a toe curling kiss. They melted into each others bodies, Regina's arms wrapping around the shorter woman's waist. Emma's fingers tangled into dark hair. Her tongue begged and was granted entrance to the moist cavern of Regina's mouth, moans escaping their pink lips as they came together.

"I love you too, my savior."

* * *

**If you don't review, bad things will happen to Regina. And, no one wants _more_ bad things to happen to her.**

**Song title: "In Love With Another Man"-Jasmine Sullivan**


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